The UOG Endowment Foundation in collaboration with the Guam Medical Association will convene Health Care Disparities in the Pacific Islands, the first Pacific Region Medical Conference scheduled for October 21-23, 2011, at Hyatt Regency Hotel, Guam. This conference will provide medical education and training, create a framework for shared health care dialogue, disseminate the latest health care advance and issues, and promote regional professional networking. The Pacific Region Medical Conference will provide the opportunity for medical professionals in the region to gather and discuss pertinent information regarding health care issues. Attendees will also be able to obtain up to fifteen Continuing Medical Education (CME) units during their participation at the conference. Health disparities and inequality, the gaps in the quality of health and health care across racial, ethnic and socioeconomic groups, are well documented in minority groups in the United States. However, not much is known of health disparities in the Pacific Islands. A host of topics by local and international authorities will cover the whole spectrum of health care disparities during the two-day conference. These topics include: Factors Contributing to Disparities in Diabetic Kidney Disease Reaching Populations in Need: Treating Tobacco Dependence among Diverse Smokers in the Inpatient Psychiatry Setting Culture, Smoking, Readiness to Quit, and Cessation: Exploring the Role of Discrimination and Ethnic Identity on Tobacco Characteristics Update in Prenatal Diagnosis and Genetics Health on Guam, An epidemiology of chronic disease in Guam Health Disparities in Diabetes Current Opinions in Medical Ethics Chronic Kidney Disease for Primary care physicians in a medically underserved area Review on: Obesity and other health disparities Complicating Filipino Women's Health and Reproduction Update on Congestive Heart Failure The Spectrum of Ischemic Heart Disease Preeclampsia in disadvantaged population - Diagnosis and Management The Costs of Health Disparities in the Pacific Cancer Research in Guam and the Region PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Guam is considered a medically underserved area by U.S. department of Health and Human Services, and studies have shown that Diabetes and Diabetic nephropathy and childhood obesity is highly prevalent in this region. Guam and the neighboring pacific islands have the highest rates of smoking, highest rates of teen pregnancy and high rate of gestational diabetes. Certain cancers of head, neck, lung and breast are well-established to be more prevalent in this community compared to the U.S. mainland. The Pacific Region Medical Conference will focus on health care disparities in the Pacific Islands to identify and describe differences in the quality of and access to health care to help identify disparities in health outcomes that may be responsive to improvement in regional health care systems and policies.